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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28526940">The girl with the red hair</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mona_lizard/pseuds/mona_lizard'>mona_lizard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Touhou Project</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Falling In Love, Touhou Koumakyou: the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Touhou PC-98 Era, Touhou Youyoumu: Perfect Cherry Blossom, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Love, they're seventeen-ish in this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:08:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28526940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mona_lizard/pseuds/mona_lizard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When she was a young youkai exterminator, Reimu Hakurei fought another human child. She may have forgotten her name, but she never stopped wondering what happened to the little girl with the red hair. Many years later, a very intriguing blonde witch shows up in Gensokyo.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hakurei Reimu/Kirisame Marisa, Kirisame Marisa/Alice Margatroid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The girl with the red hair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my take on bridging the gap between the PC-98 and the Windows universes, with a focus on Rei&gt;Mari.<br/>This is also my first time writing something this long in English, so I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the course of a human life, you will find it is very rarely that an important memory makes itself known before it is a memory. Sure, some moments are so full of emotion, so decisive, that just as you're living them you can be absolutely certain that you will remember them forever. But some, if not most, of one's decisive memories, have a delay to them. The moment lived seems unremarkable, until it someday, as you mindlessly mention it in your inner monologue, turns out to be a keystone of your life story. </p><p>A mundane moment of childhood rewritten as a most cherished memory comes as a sweet surprise. Sadly, anything sweet can be expected to have a bitter equivalent. This process, this archaeology of the brain, can dig up the bad times as well. If memory can have a delay, then so does regret, and if it's remarkable that you can one day come to regret a decision you did not even realize you were making at the time, it happens to everybody.</p><p> </p><p>On a chilly April morning, Reimu Hakurei was experiencing this very phenomenon. Nothing in particular was done on her part to provoke that. She was doing outside chores, nothing fancy, checking for bird nests in the tall grass to see if she could trim it or had to wait another week. A forgotten childhood memory merely creeped back into her brain as she was lazily searching the ground. </p><p>She remembers the girl with the red hair.</p><p> </p><p>If Reimu had to estimate, she'd say it was almost ten years ago. Was she eight, or nine years old? Younger than eleven, that's for sure. And the other girl must have been the same age. </p><p>It was surprising, to fight a human girl her age. Before the red-haired girl, it never happened. Sure, Reimu knew she was a little bit too young for adventuring herself, but she had her powers, was confident in them. And if there was ever any danger, her gramps was with her. She was very secure in her ways, so when she found herself with another child as an opponent, she was surprised, but determined to win. After that, she stopped thinking about the age, merely curious of why anyone would want to work with the vengeful spirit Mima. Then she stopped thinking about that too, and forgot about the red-haired girl altogether.</p><p>Years after that, progressively, up to her fourteenth birthday, Reimu started to realize in how much danger she was putting herself as a child. It was a process, it took a few steps, but in the end, it was all a part of her faith, a package that came with the mysterious powers she was born with. She was thankful her powers protected her as a child. If she could help it, she thought, she would make sure no child this young is sent to battle youkai anymore. But even then, she didn't remember the girl with the red hair.</p><p>She interrupts her thoughts as she almost steps on a heap of twigs. She nudges it with her feet. It's not a bird nest. It's safe. She starts thinking again.</p><p>The girl with the red hair… What was her name again?  When you're a kid you always think you're going to remember the name of everyone forever. Whatever her name was, Reimu shook her head, she had no business working for Mima.</p><p>That was <b>messed up.</b></p><p>The girl had no powers. Just practical magic. Spells taught by a vengeful spirit, spells that ordinary humans shouldn't ever be allowed to touch, all of this in the hands of a girl who probably still had her baby teeth. The little shrine maiden went against her hard, too young to be concerned by the power difference, and the girl fought back with the strength of a lion. What was in it for her? That was unfair.</p><p>Reimu wonders where the red-haired girl is now. When she analyzes the circumstances and realizes that there are high chances the red-haired girl is dead, she decides she will think about something else and heads back to the shrine.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Peaches, cherries and juicy apricots all get dumped in the same little basket. Reimu is pleased with herself for having saved money in winter for the fresh spring fruits. That meant buying less winter fruits, but it was alright because cherries are definitely one of the most delicious snacks. The seller gives her an extra serving of strawberries, for all the good she does, making peace with youkai. As she gives her thanks and walks away from the market, a carriage packed with wooden planks and second-hand furniture passes behind her on the dirt path that leads to the forest. Surprised to see such a big load making its way to the countryside, she greets the driver, who recognizes her for having made a few deliveries to the Hakurei Shrine.</p><p>"Good afternoon Ms.Reimu!"</p><p>"To you as well! Say, where are you going with the big freight? Is there a sale somewhere?"</p><p>"No ma'am! Someone's moving in."</p><p> </p><p>Reimu raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"In the magic forest?"</p><p>"That's right. That's because she's a magic user I reckon. She's from a witch family."</p><p>"Huh," Reimu said, mentally searching for questions to ask, but realizing she doesn't know enough about magic to know where to begin.</p><p>Magic is for the godless people, and she had never been fluent in it. It was a little embarrassing, actually, that she couldn't come up with any clarifications to ask for, after fighting so many magicians. There are different types of magicians, that she could deduce from her battles, but that image was so vague in her mind that she wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.</p><p>"Well, since she's new in town, she has to introduce herself to the shrine," Reimu settled on saying, because she didn't want to look stupid.</p><p>"It's true," said the carrier without sounding very serious about it, "It's tradition and all. 'S important."</p><p>"I'm glad you get it, everything runs more smoothly when people are united by celebration and -"</p><p>She noticed that of course, the driver didn't actually want this conversation to last long, and was just being civil. </p><p>"And all of that," ended Reimu, able to take a hint. "Bless you, and drive safely! Don't go and get lost in there, all right?"</p><p>"Well, if I was going to get lost, I'm sure with your blessings, I will be alright!"</p><p> </p><p>Reimu waved her goodbye with half a smile. What a polite person, she thought, as she sighed into her collar. Of course, even if that nice driver actually told the new witch to visit the shrine, there was no way this was going to happen. If Reimu were to trust her experience with the people of Makai and company, magic users wreck shrines, they don't visit them. People who had been living in Gensokyo for decades barely visited, so a new magician from who-knows-where? Fat chance.</p><p>Maybe <b>she</b> should pay her a visit one day, evaluate the risks, see what it's all about. A maiden blessed by a god shouldn't be afraid of the forest. Or its curses. Or its traps. Its uncanny youkai, poisonous mushrooms, and how easy it is to get lost in it. Reimu definitely wasn't afraid of any of this, and the only reason she never went to the Forest of Magic was because she always, absolutely always, had better things to do. </p><p>She made her way back to the shrine, making a mental note to ask more qualified people about the different types of magicians so she wouldn't look clueless again.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After a while, Reimu had started to associate outdoor work with reminiscing her old battles. This time, she was pruning the branches of her flower shrubs, when her mind naturally went to wondering about Mima. It felt nice, in a bittersweet way, to be wondering about Mima, rather than worrying about her. </p><p>Reimu's childhood was a constant cycle of sealing Mima, Mima breaking free, Mima wrecking things, sealing Mima again. Until Reimu managed to seal her for a very long time. An unusually long time. Enough for Reimu and old Genji to think she was going to stay in here for good. Eventually, they stopped checking the seal everyday, thinking that if she broke out of it, they would quickly be aware of it anyways, her not exactly being a discreet and stealthy kind of troublemaker.</p><p>Until one day, cleansing around the hokora, Reimu realized Mima's seal was gone. Nowhere to be found. Neither she nor Genji were careful enough to know exactly since when it was gone. This caused a lot of anxiety at first. Long searches were made for her, and for a while the shrine maiden was jumpy at night at the slightest sound of wind, and really, it's even scarier to anticipate an enemy who doesn't have <b>footsteps.</b></p><p>But then after a completely incident-less autumn, Reimu decided, in the words of her then-rebellious-teenager-self, that Mima must have "fucked off to Makai or maybe Hell where vengeful spirits belong". Although she repeated that a lot, she was still jumpy at night for a while. Then this stopped too. And Reimu, now almost an adult, could now "wonder" about Mima, instead of "worrying" about her.</p><p>Where was she now? How about her henchmen? When vengeful spirits go to Hell, how does it work, exactly? Reimu wondered if she should feel guilty about not worrying, because maybe Mima was hurting other people where the Hakurei couldn't see her, but Reimu trusted her intuition, and that she will cross that bridge when her intuition tells her to get to it.</p><p>Could it be her intuition speaking, though, that she kept randomly thinking about Mima, and about the red-haired -</p><p> </p><p>A tingling sensation in the back of her neck interrupted her train of thoughts. There was a disturbance in the shrine's energy, which usually meant a youkai had entered its boundary. Reimu's mind swiftly shifted to battle-ready mode, eyes narrowing in focus, chasing away any lingering thought in a way so natural that only someone with years of training could exhibit. She silently let go of her gardening tools and bolted towards the anomaly, trying to concentrate on the energies to know what to expect. Magic, she realized, as she almost reached the gate, it's not a youkai, someone's using magic, and Reimu realized she was a fool.</p><p>"Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine", she said, trying her best to hide her panting so the girl in front of her wouldn't realize she had been running.</p><p>The girl crossing the gate looked down at Reimu from her broom. She was no youkai threat nor chaotic magician, and Reimu wanted to beat herself up for forgetting that she openly invited that forest witch not two days ago. Good job, Reimu. Still, she tried to save face, and look professional, rather than admit she panicked over nothing as usual.</p><p>"If you would be so kind," she continued, "Would you mind stepping down from your broom? Magic unauthorized by the god is prohibited in the shrine's perimeter."</p><p>"Oh, for sure, for sure, sorry 'bout that."</p><p>The girl lowered herself and put her feet down, as Reimu was surprised to see the witch was a bit shorter than her, which didn't happen often. She was a rustic kind of pretty, with messy blond hair, irregular freckles, and cold blue eyes with a spark of malice, on which Reimu's gaze lingered a little bit too long before she realized she was staring and looked away. She was surprised, is all, at least that's what she told herself. The girl did not look like what she imagined when she thought about a weirdo living in the Magic Forest, yet now that she saw her she absolutely felt like she belonged in there. </p><p>"I'm Reimu Hakurei", she bluntly said, because she did not like where that train of thought was going; and it's bad to judge people based on their looks.</p><p>"Of course, 'knew that already. You're a pretty big deal. I'm Marisa."</p><p>The witch extended her hand and Reimu realized she had kept a death grip on her staff this whole time. She shook with Marisa before gripping her weapon again, not knowing what else to do with her hands and increasingly nervous after being called a big deal.</p><p>"Yeah, I kind of run this whole place. The Magic Forest is technically part of it too, so don't hesitate to come to me if you have any trouble. It's also good if you visit the shrine often."</p><p>"Huh. You don't have a problem with magic users visiting?"</p><p>"I'm not so old-fashioned as to condemn all magic. More and more people are into it, so… Let's say it's an "innocent until proven guilty" situation, and leave it at that. If you visit often, I will assume you're a good witch."</p><p>Marisa chuckled at that, which threw Reimu aback. Was she missing something? The witch looked like she knew something Reimu didn't and it was the second time this week her lack of magic knowledge embarrassed her.</p><p>"Did I say something funny?"</p><p>"Wha- you mean, you really don't - Huh."</p><p>Reimu could feel her cheeks starting to match her skirt, but the witch wasn't laughing anymore, and her smile changed from a snark to something sweeter. A soft smile, almost coy, familiar, maybe?</p><p>"Nevermind. It's nothing. 'M not used to be presumed innocent is all. 'S good if you're the kind of girl who goes beyond first impressions."</p><p>"This doesn't mean I won't keep close watch, of course. Magic is dangerous."</p><p>"Alright," said Marisa with her hands up, "No funny business. 'Promise."</p><p>Reimu swore she heard her say "no more funny business", but she might have imagined it.</p><p>"Seriously, don't you worry, sweet cheeks. I know what I'm doing. My dad's got a shop not far from here. I'm just moving out on my own now, but I know Gensokyo, and I know magic. I was taught by the greatest."</p><p>"Your dad?"</p><p>"Eeeh, among others."</p><p>She's just a human witch, Reimu realized, she's going to sell potions, have familiars, absolutely nothing to worry about. She was a little bit too young to be a forest hag, but still. Just one of these weirdos Reimu usually avoided. Which is why it surprised her to hear herself saying:</p><p>"Well maybe I'll come visit you, sometime. I could use the magic lesson."</p><p>Where did that come from, the shrine maiden did not know. Curiosity?</p><p>"What, did your masters teach you to "know thine enemy" ?"</p><p>"Who knows, maybe I'm looking to diversify my activity."</p><p>The witch smiled widely at that, so Reimu felt the need to clarify.</p><p>"I'm kidding, I'm not - I wouldn't do magic. I'm a shrine maiden."</p><p>Marisa laughed at that again, but this time, Reimu didn't feel any animosity. So what if that witch had inside jokes with herself? Her guest was just joyous, and the realization made her relax a little, as she started showing her around the shrine. </p><p> </p><p>The visit was short, as Marisa was still busy with her boxes and furniture. After paying her quick respects to the spirits at work, she headed back to the entrance, guided by Reimu. As they said their goodbyes, the shrine maiden was hit once more by this weird feeling that she was not getting something. </p><p>"Hey, Marisa, have we met before?"</p><p>Was what she wanted to say. But it was one conversation too late to ask, and she had filled her quota of feeling stupid for today, and for like, an entire month after that. Instead, she said:</p><p>"It was really nice meeting you."</p><p>The other girl looked straight into Reimu's eyes and for a moment Reimu's knees felt weak. There was a glint of something else in these eyes, something deeper than the candid and happy persona who was joking around a few minutes ago. It shook Reimu to the core like an old fear she had forgotten about.</p><p>"See you 'round, Reimu."</p><p> </p><p>Reimu watched the witch turn around and mount her broom, then hesitate, as if there was something else she wanted to say. Reimu held her breath, but Marisa finally kicked the ground and flew away. It's only when the silhouette of the girl disappeared in the trees that Reimu realized how fast she was breathing. The encounter left her with a lingering nervous feeling, but when she closed her eyes and tried to let her intuition analyze the new girl's profile, she got nothing, as if her spirits had been short-circuited. She just wanted to know more about the witch, and to figure out what that spark in her eyes had meant.</p><p>"I wonder if visiting her tomorrow is okay… I've lived in the shrine all my life, how long does it take someone to move out anyways?"</p><p>She stood outside thinking for a long time before remembering the work she had to do. A cloudy, hot and humid night quickly fell on Gensokyo. It was too dark to prune the trees, so she went back inside and dreamt of Mima.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Turned out the next morning, it was too dark to prune the trees too. The thick, humid mist of the night before had lowered itself and the whole land was now a blur of scarlet fog. </p><p>Reimu had quickly assessed that this could be a big issue. She followed the mist down the hills, squabbled with some fairies on the lake, and she was now losing her patience while trying to get information the hard way from a martial artist she had never seen before.</p><p>Hong Meiling was now panting, her limbs limp with muscle exhaustion, but she was still shielding the gate of the Scarlet Mansion with her body, her firm grips on the gate's steel bars the only thing that kept her from collapsing to the ground. Reimu shook her head.</p><p>"Whoever you're trying to protect is probably not paying you enough for this."</p><p>"But they always say I'd let anyone in. I want to prove them wrong for once."</p><p>Reimu rubbed her forehead with her staff. Why was it that the one day this guard decides to be efficient is the one day she's trying to get in?</p><p>"If you'd only tell me what you know, maybe I wouldn't even have to force my way in, you know. What is this mansion anyways? I've seen big mansions on lakes before, but not this one. It's so different. It looks western. Are you friends of… What's her name. Yuuka?"</p><p>"I don't know who that is. This is the Scarlet Mansion. "</p><p>"Well, scarlet means red, this is as good as admitting the red mist is your fault, then."</p><p>"I don't know if you're aware, but you're red-themed too."</p><p>"Oh, come on now! I will never understand the appeal of defending one's master like this. I'm glad I have a free life so I don't have to act like that."</p><p>"Aren't you a shrine maiden?"</p><p>"My god isn't that bossy. As long as I do good, it's all dandy between us. And right now, it would be very good to know where this red fog is coming from. Oh, forget it, I'm just going to walk over you and directly ask your masters instead."</p><p>"I'm sorry, but again, what red fog are you talking about? There is nothing here."</p><p>"Are you trying to waste my time now? That's some strategy. Look around, the red fog is right th-"</p><p>Reimu stopped her hands mid-air as she was gesturing towards what was now a perfectly clear sunset, probably announcing a nice, hot night, with stars and constellations showing.</p><p>"Come on, you saw it too, it was everywhere."</p><p>She looked around in disbelief. If one thing screamed "danger" like nothing else, it was when an incident resolved itself. Meiling smirked, looking very proud of herself.</p><p>"I have nothing to say to you", commented Reimu, and she instinctively put her hands on her hips, sniffing the air for some sort of clue. She jumped at a sudden metallic sound, and turned towards the gate which was being pushed open from the inside by a silver-haired maid holding a big set of keys. The maid pushed Meiling aside as if she was a ragdoll, muttering something about making a mess, but Reimu didn't catch it, because she was frozen into place: behind the maid, Marisa was walking, chatting with a tired-looking girl clad entirely in purple lace.</p><p>"... If it makes her feel better, there are a lot of dark areas in the forest where the sun is not a problem, I could provide a map- Oh, hi Reimu!"</p><p>Not knowing what to say, Reimu just weakly waved, waiting to know who these strangers were, even though Marisa was supposed to be the new one in town.</p><p>"Did'ya come here about the red fog too?"</p><p>"Aren't you going to introduce me?"</p><p>"Oh, of course. This first. You're big on manners, huh?"</p><p>Marisa tried a smile, but Reimu was too confused to return it, and the purple girl looked like she had no intention to smile, talk, or ease the awkwardness.</p><p>"This here's Patchouli. She's a magician, which is different from a witch - you knew that, right? And right here is Sakuya. She's head maid here."</p><p>Sakuya stared at Reimu and gave her a corny two-finger salute without saying a word.</p><p>"It's actually a real funny story, right? So, there's this girl who lives here, Remilia, and she's a vampire. Yeah, turns out they're real, and just like in the books, they can't go out in the sun. So, she grabs a few magic books from Miss Patchouli here, and makes this red mist that covers the sun. All that so she can go outside during the day. Went to scold her a little, she's a strong little thing, that girl. In the end, 'cause I was winning, we came to an agreement. No more mist."</p><p>"You… Solved that on your own?"</p><p>"I still feel kinda bad for her, you know? I would feel lonely too if I could only go outside when everyone else is sleeping. We're going to work something out with Patchouli."</p><p>"Please don't say "we" before you consult me," Patchouli interjected with a deep voice.</p><p>"I'll just come back soon and work something out with all the material in your library."</p><p>"Please don't come back to my library."</p><p>Reimu still looked confused, so Marisa turned her attention back to her.</p><p>"Something else you want to know?"</p><p>"How did you find out about the mansion in the first place?"</p><p>"Huh? Same as you, probably. Followed the movements of the mist."</p><p>"You went out to investigate all alone?"</p><p>"Oh. No, I was flying about, and got lost because of the fog. I couldn't find my way back home, so I decided that I might as well follow the lead. Don't worry dollie, I'm not trying to come for your gig."</p><p>"I wasn't - I didn't mean - Incidents like that can be very dangerous, you know. I've been doing this for years. You need to be careful."</p><p>Marisa opened her mouth as if to say something, then decided against it. Slowly, her snark turned into a soft smile, which threw Reimu off balance just the same as the first time she saw her do this. What did it mean?</p><p>"You're right. I'll be careful. For now, do you want to get inside and have a chat with Remilia yourself? I mean, she messed up your turf. You might want to set things straight with her."</p><p>"Please don't invite people on our behalf," Sakuya talked for the first time. "But… I guess it's alright now that she's already been reasoned with."</p><p>"No, you know what, this is fine. I'm just going to - I'm just going to head out."</p><p>Reimu gestured towards the hills, but Marisa looked surprised.</p><p>"You don't want to talk to her."</p><p>"No," Reimu sighed. "It's all been solved. You did a good job. Be more careful next time?"</p><p>She started walking away, but felt a hand on her bare shoulder. She turned around to look down at Marisa and tried to repress a shiver.</p><p>"Hey, Reimu, is this really okay?"</p><p>She only nodded, and took off, nervously returning her two-finger salute to Sakuya and flying away from the Mansion, leaving Marisa with the other three girls.</p><p>She was not losing her touch, she told herself. She only had many calm years and lacked practice. A long time ago, incidents just kept happening, and she was always out and about. Then for a while Gensokyo was calm. Now, in just two days, a witch, a magician and a vampire show up? She had every right to be nervous. The days of incidents were back, she could feel it. The days of Makai, of secret artefacts, and of the red-haired girl.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The satisfying crunch of the frozen decayed leaves, the scent of burnt wood emanating from every inhabited corner of the forest and the way all the birds were weirdly silent were all the clues Marisa needed to tell today was going to be the first snow day of the year. She rummaged through her pairs of leather boots, which all looked the same but had varying degrees of comfort, sturdiness and padding, and opted for the warmest ones before heading to the Human Village. You see, there is something to experiencing the first snowfall of the year surrounded by people. Children and adults alike stop paying attention to class or to work to run to the window and see the first flakes shyly melting on the ground. For a minute, the snow is everything everyone talks about. Marisa didn't want to miss it, because the Forest of Magic could get lonely, at times. She had been living there for a few months now, but still knew few of its inhabitants. Most of them tended to be discreet, hiding even, and while she was too tough to be scared by someone's footsteps following her at night, Marisa would have been more at ease if these strange spirits would have stopped and said hi.</p><p>In the Human Village, everything was going as usual. Witches are better at forecasting the weather, after all, and some people were dressed too lightly for what was to come. Marisa took a seat on a low wall by the market stalls, wondering if later in the winter they would sell roasted chestnuts to go. </p><p>Further away on the same parapet, a family of three went and sat. There was a mother, a grandfather, and a little girl who could not stop babbling. Running around her mother's skirts, she was going on and on about the harvest festival, her very first festival from the sound of it. The autumn spirits were so scary and blowing leaves so furiously, but the hero was there to calm everyone down, to bring everyone together, and after that, they all ate and danced and went to bed late!</p><p>"She's talking about Reimu", Marisa thought, when she couldn't help but eavesdrop. As the little girl's smile widened, Marisa mirrored her without even realizing it. "Reimu is really bringing joy to everyone in Gensokyo, in many ways."</p><p>Of course, she recognized Reimu right away. How could she forget? There aren't two shrine maidens in the world with these wild, powerful and spectacular abilities. During the years with Mima, Marisa knew few people. She was away from her family and had few friends. So few that even when things got complicated and she had to lay low for a while, she never forgot the name of Reimu Hakurei.</p><p>When that amiable delivery-woman told Marisa that the shrine maiden expected her to visit, Marisa's heart stopped a little. How did Reimu find out about her so quickly? Marisa had tried to be subtle with her return to the public eye. People had slowly forgotten the damage Mima did to Gensokyo, and she wanted to be forgotten as well. She got mentally ready for every possible plot before heading to reintroduce herself. Maybe Reimu was waiting for her battle-ready, strongest spells fully activated, to get the last word on her master's wrongings. Maybe she was asking for the full story, for an explanation, to put Marisa on trial. God, how Marisa hoped it was the former, as it would be much easier for her to defend herself with spells than with words.</p><p>The only scenario she was not prepared for was Reimu's curious and confused stare when she showed up at the gates, and her little nod when Marisa said her name, as if she never heard it before, as if she hadn't seen Marisa at her worst, as if they didn't fight each other and together with and against odds that were too much for both their ages. She repressed a laugh when she realized that this was neither a joke or a game of wits. She could have laughed hysterically, if she didn't control herself then.</p><p>Reimu didn't remember her. Come to think of it, it wasn't surprising at all. Reimu meets all sorts of people everyday, and Marisa changed so much. She changed her hair, she changed her magic, she changed sides in the power struggles of Gensokyo. Reimu, on the contrary, hadn't changed at all. She was just the same as when Marisa met her for the first time. </p><p>She was offered a chance to start over, a complete blank slate, and given her past, she had every reason to take it. Which is why she decided to play along. "Nice to meet you too", and all that, which is a degree of lying Marisa had never attempted before, filling her with adrenaline. In some way, this was an even better revenge than fighting Reimu. </p><p>While she was lost in her thoughts, Marisa heard a gasp. The little girl had noticed the first snowflake before she could see it herself, and with a playful spark in her eye, Marisa intended to beat her to who would catch one in their mouth first.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It's early morning. Marisa opens her eyes in her comfortable bed, buried under layers and layers of comforters. She shivers as she peels them one by one and walks up to her window.</p><p>"Come on now. Come on. Please please please please please."</p><p>She opens her curtains. Powdery snow falls down her roof as the wooden shutters swing against the walls, and the clearing around her shop is completely covered in a smooth white blanket disturbed only by recent animal footprints.</p><p>"Oh come on! I hate this snow!"</p><p>It was mid-March, and many months had passed since the wonder and excitement of the first snowfall of winter 2003. The snow was getting old, really old, and the icing on the cake: it was also getting cold. Colder, as a matter of fact. Colder everyday instead of the natural arrival of spring. At this point, Marisa was praying for one sunny day, for any animal to come out of hibernation, a snowdrop bud even, some sign to give her the hope that this winter wasn't going to last forever.</p><p> </p><p>Marisa flew to the Hakurei Shrine, where she had been a few times these past few months, but never too long, as Reimu always seemed to be busy when someone showed up uninvited. She was luckier this time, and Reimu was huddled in her living room, reading and trying to warm up her hands on a cup of hot tea.</p><p>"Poor thing, can't you at least light a fire in there? I mean, hi. I'm here to talk about the weather."</p><p>Reimu looked up from her book, ruffling in her blanket.</p><p>"The weather? We're doing small talk, now?"</p><p>"Aww, come on, I know you know it's unusual."</p><p>The witch sat on the floor in front of Reimu, keeping her coat on and rubbing her hands, trying not to shake from the freezing wind making its way in the house. Reimu's voice sounded cracked from a recent cold, or maybe just fatigue.</p><p>"Can't you go investigate that and find all about it yourself like you do?", she whined.</p><p>"So you're still mad about the vampire takedown?"</p><p>Reimu sighed into her cup of tea.</p><p>"But you make it sound so cool when you call it the vampire takedown."</p><p>She took a long, full body look at Marisa. Marisa didn't say a word, giving her moody friend any amount of time she needed to decide how she felt, as if taming a wild animal. Because she liked to be the smarter one, she tried to read into the shrine maiden's big brown eyes and got thrown off guard when she finally saw a spark of what she was probably misreading as affection. </p><p>After Marisa failed to repress a shiver, Reimu pointed towards her pile of blankets, and gestured to Marisa that she could sit next to her. Marisa finally relaxed in some warmth as Reimu began to speak.</p><p>"To tell you the truth, I have already tried a few leads, but everything is falling flat. None of the usual offenders seem to be related to this weird long winter, and I am running out of ideas. I am really tired and the cold is making me sick. And I can't sleep at all."</p><p>"You're the kind of person who can't sleep when it's cold?"</p><p>"No, not that. I'm talking about the thing watching people at night. I was hoping you noticed it too, you're the only person besides me who notices weird stuff. If you haven't seen it, then either it's targeting me or I am losing my mind."</p><p>"Well, wait, come to think of it…"</p><p>It's true that Marisa was going to bed much later than usual, because of strange noises in her dark cottage. She would blame it on the forest spirits…</p><p>"But I can't really pinpoint what it is or what it looks like, s'just noises that I feel like the forest shouldn't be making."</p><p>"Yes! That's how it started for me at first. Sometimes at night, I would hear the wind coming from the eastern wall of the shrine, and there are no holes in my walls - well, don't look at me like that, there are <b>some </b>holes in my walls. But I know where those are. And one night, as I was trying to see where the noise came from, I caught a glance, but it was so blurry, I might just have been dreaming."</p><p>"How did it look?"</p><p>"I don't know… Purple."</p><p>"How'd you know what color it was if you saw it by night?"</p><p>"Ah, you're right. I'm losing it."</p><p>Reimu threw her head back and smiled at Marisa. She suddenly looked happy that the witch was there, but was that really surprising? It can be lonely when you're the only one to notice something, Marisa rationalized. When Marisa looked back into her eyes, Reimu retreated deeper into her blankets.</p><p>"Anyways, I don't even know if that's related to the long winter or not. But that's the only idea I have. I've had some powerful spirits stalking and haunting the shrine before, but I don't think they would be capable of changing the weather on the whole land. Then again, the idea of it is scary still."</p><p>"A powerful spirit? Who was it?"</p><p>"Oh, you wouldn't know her", boasted Reimu, totally proud of her mysterious connections, and in that moment Marisa couldn't tell if she wanted to punch her or die of laughter.</p><p>"How about you? Do you have a hunch? Well, I hope you don't, it would be really embarrassing for me if you did and I just vented for five minutes over nothing."</p><p>Again with the cute jokes and the awkward justifying. It had been like that since the first time, and Marisa didn't remember Reimu tripping over herself in every sentence when they were kids. Was she… flirting? Marisa scolded herself to get her head off the gutter. Reimu was the keeper of the shrine which came with a lot of responsibilities. She had a duty to be precise and polite with her words, hence the awkwardness, is all.</p><p>"Not the slightest clue. Just want it to end, really. I would give <b>anything</b> for a week without shoveling any snow. I guess I'll just dive into some magic books and keep both eyes wide open for any evidence."</p><p>"Will you -"</p><p>A moment for Reimu to find her words, and for Marisa to fight the need to interrupt her with banter, to let her speak, make this easier for both of them.</p><p>"If you find anything, will you tell me? Please don't run off alone to solve it all by yourself like you did last time?"</p><p>"Aww, scared I'll come for your gig again?"</p><p>"You're so- There are dangerous things out there. Dangerous magic and dangerous people. If we share our discoveries I can - I mean we can probably figure something out together. Please?"</p><p>Oh, now that was grand. Marisa wondered if she had overplayed the "innocent oblivious beginner witch" bit, seeing how Reimu was worried Marisa would get attacked by the exact forces the young witch used to be a part of. But for now she had no choice but to humor her. She unwrapped her blanket and got up on her feet.</p><p>"You make a good point, girlie. I'll see if I feel like it."</p><p>"Hey! You can't tell me that and run off like you're too cool for danger."</p><p>"Now now, I'm not running off. I'm coming back tomorrow with some goddamn firewood. I may not know evil spirits, but I know how to make a fire, Mrs. Ice Queen."</p><p>"You really don't have to-"</p><p>"C'mon. It will be fun."</p><p>"… Thank you, Marisa."</p><p>Marisa didn't notice it before, but Reimu's nose and ears were wicked red. Poor girl was going to get severe frostbite if someone didn't teach her how to make fire soon.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, take your shoes off, this is a shrine."</p><p>From what had become a habit that went from once a week to maybe every other day, Marisa barged in Reimu's living room. The growing familiarity with which she treated the girl was the only moving part indicating some sort of passage of time, because the world was still frozen in place as no season passed and snowy March blended into a snowy April. From cautiously approaching Reimu, the witch had started walking in "like she owned the place", or so Reimu told her. Yet Reimu noticed, though she never mentioned it, that Marisa would always come off her broom right when she reached the Torii, like Reimu asked her to when they met, and would climb the hill on foot, no matter how deep and wet the snow could sometimes be. </p><p>It felt unfair, to have been so defensive about Marisa's magic then, now that this very magic kept her alive during this harsh season. There's no fire as comforting as a Hakkero fire, and though Marisa had taught Reimu how to light her own brazier, fire from wood only warmed you up from the outside and not from inside out like Marisa could. She should be allowed to ride her broom around, Reimu knew, but didn't know how to bring up the subject, because talking about magic still weirded her out, in a way. Plus, telling her she was watching her come to the shrine and noticed the broom thing, really, that sounded like something a creepy stalker would do. Nope, Marisa didn't need to know how many things Reimu noticed about her. </p><p>"I've got a new idea to stop this snow", Marisa said, throwing a grimoire at Reimu's feet.</p><p>"Found this in Patchy's library. Check out this weather spell."</p><p>"What the hell is a hidden season? I don't understand a word of this."</p><p>"Oh no! Me neither. That's tough! But I came all this way, you're not going to send me home in the falling snow before dinner, are you?"</p><p>"You can't keep doing this every time you're too lazy to cook or when you'll have an actual plan I won't believe you anymore", Reimu hummed, trying to sound annoyed, but already clearing the floor and the table for two people. It was a bit embarrassing, how quickly she lit up as soon as Marisa said she intended to stay a while, as if there was any surprise to it, as if that hadn't been the case every few days for a month. Like a puppy when it's time for a walk. </p><p>"Hey, I'd gladly cook for you if you showed up at my house. But we always meet at yours, so, you can't blame me for being a good guest."</p><p>"Is this an invitation?"</p><p>"I mean, if you're ever around the Magic Forest, you could stop by my house if you wanted to."</p><p>The invitation was vague. They have had this conversation a few times already, and it always ended the same way. Reimu had never seen Marisa's house, not once since she moved in, but a "you could stop by" didn't seem like enough. It seemed like something Marisa forced herself to say, and Reimu didn't want to show up uninvited. She was too polite, the Magic Forest scared her, she would get lost, she didn't have any gifts to bring… While the excuses in her head changed every time, she would have dismissed all of them in a heartbeat if Marisa asked her to come clearly, with a "How about tomorrow?" or a "Let's go get dessert at my place". But the girl could read between the lines. "Come around if you want" means you're not welcome. Reimu wanted to know why she wasn't, but just the thought of it made her sad. To distract herself from these thoughts, Reimu got to preparing dinner. </p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>Reimu could never stay sad for long when Marisa was her guest, and all evening she laughed, smiled and gossiped about every person in town that they both knew. Marisa was so much fun, saw the world in such a strange way that made Reimu want to take a second look at it. Magic with her was still weird, but never scary, and the secret purple spirit that was keeping the girls awake at night was now a running joke between them. If summer ever came, Reimu thought, she'd have to be the first to hide eggplants around in Marisa's house, or else the witch would get the same idea and beat her to it. God, she loved her so much…</p><p>Hold that thought. "This is too strong a word to apply to this situation", Reimu thought "because this endless winter is making me stir-crazy, and I'm probably just being silly". She didn't want to have feelings for a girl who won't even invite her home, and she was <b>very glad</b> these pesky thoughts were definitely a natural symptom of winter isolation and were <b>so</b> going to disappear come spring.</p><p>Still, she didn't want this evening to end just yet. What harm could it do to linger a little longer? So when they finished the last bite of their meal, Reimu got up to go fetch some bottle of any alcohol that was left in her pantry. As she passed the door to get there, she heard a dreary noise outside and went to take a peak in the dark.</p><p>"Marisa, come look at this." </p><p>Her god must have been listening to her silly little whining in the kitchen, because the evening wasn't going to end now. Outside, a raging snowstorm was pressing the trees flat, with a deafening windy noise and flakes so violent they looked like hail.</p><p>"Oh, I've flown in a snowstorm", said the witch, but the last words faded out very quietly as she was visibly concerned. The fog and the dark were so dense you couldn't see farther than the tip of your broom.</p><p>"Yeah, well, you're not flying in this one. I'm not sending you out there. You should stay the night here."</p><p>Marisa let out a sigh of relief, very glad that Reimu asked, and Reimu repressed one, because as soon as she heard herself say these brave words she had wanted to disappear.</p><p>"Alright, it's a sleepover then."</p><p>Reimu chuckled at the childish word. It did make the situation less awkward to think of it as a sleepover.</p><p>"I haven't had one of these since I was a little girl!"</p><p>"Seriously? None at all? Ya missed out."</p><p>"Well I don't have a lot of friends my age," Reimu said defensively without missing a beat.</p><p>"T's'okay, you're a proper shrine maiden, s'good that you spared yourself the truths, the dares and the bottle spins. Shouldn't let yourself get bullied by a nasty witch, really."</p><p>"I'm not a - I'm not all proper like you think."</p><p>Why did she say that? She very much was calm, proper and responsible. But something about Marisa assuming she was "pure" and "innocent" rubbed her the wrong way. How condescending, right?</p><p>"You know what, Marisa changed the subject, this snow storm looks really scary. It sets a cool atmosphere. I'll set up the Hakkero and we should watch it crash and rage as we drink. Nothing like watching horrible weather when you're safe inside. "</p><p>"This is a good set-up for scary stories!" said Reimu, finally walking to get this bottle she was fetching in the first place."</p><p>"Oooh, good idea, that's fun. I've got plenty of those!"</p><p> </p><p>They moved some cushions by the front door and Reimu went foraging for any blanket, comforter, wool, hell, even old curtains, that she could find in the shrine. Wearing them all over her head, approaching Marisa like a fabric monster, she stopped to look at her lighting the biggest campfire she had ever seen. It wasn't the first time Reimu caught Marisa using magic when she thought no one was looking. When Marisa did magic in front of friends she was always flamboyant, spunky gestures and all. On her own, she looked so deeply focused, eyes completely locked on her target, calm and delicate, as if her magic was something fragile and she had to be careful not to hurt it.</p><p>She was making the fire progressively bigger, little by little, fingers dancing around the flames, almost touching them, sometimes adjusting the Hakkero and making little tapping sounds on its wooden frame. The room was winter dark blue but the strong light of the magic fire illuminated Marisa's face. From the untrained eye, you would say it was a red light, like any campfire, but Reimu could see the slight iridescence, because of the unique rainbow touch of Marisa's magic. Little touches of color were reflecting themselves in the girl's hair. It was hypnotizing. Because she used no firewood, there were no cracking branches, just the sound of the wind outside harmonizing with the soft murmur of the witch blowing on the flames to make them rise.</p><p>A gust of smoke made Reimu sneeze. Marisa turned her head and caught her staring. Reimu clutched the blankets.</p><p>"This looks dangerous. Are you sure it's okay to make a fire so big inside?"</p><p>"Don't worry babygirl, it's magic, it's not real fire, it doesn't burn until I want it to. And if anything happens, we're right by the door. I'd just have to throw the Hakkero in the snow."</p><p>Ah. Pet names. </p><p>"Okay. If you say so. If anything burns you're responsible."</p><p>Marisa pivoted on the floor to take a good look at Reimu.</p><p>"You got eaten by a blanket monster?"</p><p>"Yes, and it's going to get you too, RAAAAH!"</p><p>Reimu threw one of the heaviest comforters on Marisa who laughed as she fell on her back.</p><p>"If you do things like this, I'm not responsible for the fire safety anymore."</p><p>"Quiet. This is no way to thank me for the comfiest sleepover of your life."</p><p>Reimu served them two glasses of that unlabelled bottle she found. As winter was getting harsher, she wasn't getting any good offerings, but this was definitely some type of alcohol, so this would do.</p><p>"This could be anything," said Marisa after finishing her first glass.</p><p>"Yes, I thought I would identify it after tasting it, but I'm somehow more confused now."</p><p>"You don't remember where that bottle came from?"</p><p>"Many people have lived in this Shrine before me, you know."</p><p>"This could really be anything," nodded Marisa, looking a little disgusted but pouring herself another one anyways. "What? It's cold."</p><p>"This is what these fat mountain dogs with barrels around their neck have in the keg."</p><p>"No, these dogs have good whiskey."</p><p>"That's a myth. Why would anyone waste good whiskey on a dog? They can't tell the difference."</p><p>Marisa snorted, and it was always great to make her laugh intentionally instead of looking stupid by accident.</p><p>"Next time we should do a sleepover at my house, I have tons of fun beverages for us to try."</p><p>"Okay, I'm excited, let's set a date then. When can I finally visit you?", Reimu decided to throw a line at Marisa, emboldened by the booze and the moment.</p><p>It went miles over Marisa's head, because she answered, "I dunno, when you want to."</p><p>Taking Reimu's sudden silence as an invitation to keep talking, she started rambling.</p><p>"Come to think of it, so many sleepover activities are related to magic. Summoning spirits? Ouija? That's a classic. Playing with truth serum… Oh, and dyeing your hair. Yeah, we're definitely doing this when you sleep over at my house. What color would you like?"</p><p>"Wha- You know how to dye hair?"</p><p>"Sure. It's an easy potion. I don't even know if you can call it a potion. What color?"</p><p>"I've never even thought of myself with another hair color. What colors can you do?"</p><p>"Any color?"</p><p>"Any color? I could wake up with blue hair? I don't know if I want that. What colors would you do to yourself?"</p><p>"On top of the blond? I wanted to keep it blond for a little while, but if-"</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"By what?"</p><p>"What do you mean, on top of the blond?"</p><p>"Did you think yellow was my natural hair color?"</p><p>Reimu gasped.</p><p>"You witch! What color is your real hair, then?"</p><p>"Wouldn't you like to know."</p><p>"You have to tell me! I won't let you touch my hair if you don't tell me about yours."</p><p>"Brown? Brown-ish? Chestnut. Like yours but lighter. Though maybe it would be darker now. I don't know, honestly, I've been dyeing it since I was a kid, I hardly remember what I look like with it. Right now, I am happy with the bright blond."</p><p>Reimu tried to imagine Marisa with dark hair like hers, and then all kinds of colors of the rainbow, and each mental image was prettier than the last.</p><p>"This is crazier than your fire magic!"</p><p>"You are overreacting. "</p><p>"Am not!"</p><p>"So, now that I've told you, we're dyeing your hair blue come spring, right? Or maybe red, to match your whole theme."</p><p>"I don't see myself with red hair… But you would wear it well, now that I picture it-"</p><p>Wait.</p><p>
  <b>Wait.</b>
</p><p>"Eh, I've had red hair at some point. It was cute, but it's not my style anymore."</p><p>
  <b>Oh.</b>
</p><p>"You look like you've seen a ghost, Reimu. I told you you were overreacting. It's just hair."</p><p>
  <b>But why didn't Marisa say anything?</b>
</p><p>"You can do anything you want with it and it always grows back."</p><p>
  <b>How on earth did she miss this?</b>
</p><p>"They say it grows even after you're dead."</p><p> </p><p>So the girl with the red hair was sitting next to her. Had been this entire time. It was so likely that she was dead, dumped in a ditch, lost in some corner of Makai, but somehow, she was sitting next to Reimu. And alive she was! Lively, merry as a grig, looking healthy, relatively clear of scars though Reimu might have mistaken a few for birthmarks. </p><p>Had Reimu been tricked the entire time? The great return of Mima, was that it? She couldn't seriously consider it. She might be dumb, apparently have the memory of an understimulated goldfish, and learn nothing of her encounters with magic, but her godly intuition was flawless, the only thing she could ever trust in. And the joy, the warmth that sparked Marisa's spells had no trace of the black magic she once practiced. Was she under attack, she would have known by now. Mima's touch had always filled her with disgust. But not Marisa's, well, not this new Marisa. Not one bad feeling, not a shiver - well, not that kind of shivers anyways.</p><p>Plus, Mima caused incidents, not solved them. Feeling empathy for a troublesome little vampire to the point of fighting to help her? If Reimu was honest with herself, she would have been harsher on Remilia, had she been in Marisa's place. When did the roles reverse like that? Or had Marisa always been like this?</p><p>That's it, she knew it. It was never Marisa's fault. She was under the thrall of an evil spirit. She was a kid. Reimu <b>beat her</b>. With powers granted by a god. Marisa had what? A wand? Few potions? Was this why she was lying then? Was she afraid of her former mentor? Changing her identity so Mima can't get back to her… What a better place to hide than the Magic Forest? It must have been so scary to escape from the realm of the vengeful ones.</p><p>Or was she lying because she was afraid of Reimu?</p><p> </p><p>"Oh shit, oh no. Hey, Reimu, no. Don't cry. 'M sorry about the dead thing, I didn't know it would upset you. Fuck. Sorry.  I won't say things like that again."</p><p>Get it together. Reimu tried to shake some casual words out of her chest. No matter what the reason for Marisa's lying was, it had led them this close, talking around a carefully crafted magic campfire, shoulders almost touching if not for the layers of thick cloth and comforter. Whatever this was, Reimu wanted to protect it. She rubbed her eyes.</p><p>"Don't apologize. I guess I didn't realize I was this tired."</p><p>"Yeah? You sure you're okay?"</p><p>Keeping her eyes on Reimu, as she was talking, Marisa discreetly put their glasses and the bottle aside. Despite the witch trying not to make a big show of it, Reimu noticed the responsible gesture and sighed in shame of her own behaviour.</p><p>"I'm going to - I'm going to keep my hair brown for now. But we could cut it together, if you want. I love to have shorter hair in spring."</p><p>Reimu wasn't expecting the next part where Marisa grabs her shoulders to pull her closer into a reassuring almost-hug. </p><p>"And it will come, alright? Don't you worry about it. We're going to find out what's happening and there will be a spring for us to enjoy."</p><p>The shrine maiden was absolutely mortified and far too focused on Marisa's hand on her shoulder to form a coherent answer. At least Marisa thought <b>that</b> was the reason for her tantrum and the less Reimu would say about it, the less chances she'll figure out it was about herself. Better shut up until she felt more up to the necessary deception.</p><p>"I think I need some sleep."</p><p>"Yeah? It's late. I didn't intend to keep you awake like that when I visited in the first place."</p><p>"No. I'm glad you did. Uh… I'm sorry I ruined the sleepover. We didn't even get the chance to-"</p><p>"Come on, don't worry. That's nothing. There will be plenty of other times."</p><p>"… Promise?"</p><p>This time, Marisa got the hint.</p><p>"Yes. I promise."</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>Marisa was slowly breathing and making a little humming noise. The pile of blankets she slept under was messy and there must have been five different pieces of fabric over her but none of them covered her entirely. The space they made in the main room was warm and cosy, so they didn't bother moving all of it to another room, and had brought a few pillows to top their little nest instead. The Hakkero had been turned down to its lowest flame, small, blue and crackling but somehow still as warm as when it was big and bright.</p><p>"How does she sleep with a hand and a foot out in the open? If you don't cover your feet when you sleep you will get snatched by a monster."</p><p>Reimu had pretended to fall asleep first and only opened her eyes when she started hearing the soft, high pitched snoring besides her. She was tired, but she couldn't allow herself to sleep. She had a lot of information to process.</p><p>She sat up and squinted to try and get used to the darkness. She had sensitive eyes that were sharp during the day but ridiculously bad during the night. Her struggle somehow seemed to reach the Hakkero, which organically responded to her thoughts by shining a little bit brighter. Startled, she jumped back under her covers, thinking Marisa had woken up and changed the light, but when she heard the breathing staying constant, she sat up again and stared at the Hakkero, most menacingly.</p><p>"So what's the deal with you? Do you have a mind of your own? I thought you only worked with Marisa's magic."</p><p>The Hakkero didn't answer, so she switched her attention back to the witch herself.</p><p>Since she got her big realization, Reimu had been too keen on hiding her shock to take a real good look at Marisa. It was hard to look at the face without staring, now that she was looking for something familiar in it. She was also pushing back the moment of verification. Mostly, she hoped she had made a mistake. That she would look closely at Marisa and find a feature that definitely didn't match the girl with the red hair. That would make everything way simpler and she could focus on the winter incident. And then, after that, her and Marisa could go rescue the real girl with the red hair.</p><p>It's definitely not that she didn't want to see the girl with the red hair. Of course she wanted to see her! She was under the thrall of an evil force, right, but she was also funny, cool, ambitious. And to know that she's still alive would be a relief. What kind of Gensokyo shrine maiden would Reimu be if she wasn't ready to rescue and give redemption to lost humans? </p><p>So she took a real good look. Long and hard. Lingering on every little feature until it felt uncomfortable and suffocating, even the half-open lips that tore a swirl into Reimu's stomach. It was her. There was no doubt it was her, it was that kind of thing that you can't unsee once you notice it. Actually, there were two facts Reimu couldn't erase now that she had realized them: Marisa was the girl with the red hair, and Reimu was in love with her.</p><p>She needed some plans and truths to hold onto, so she started gathering all the evidence she had in her head. Marisa used to have red hair, that's one. Marisa is weird about magic when no one's watching her, that's another. </p><p>"Marisa always remembers to step away from her broom when she's around the border."</p><p>That had nothing to do with the red haired girl situation.</p><p>"But maybe it means she likes me back."</p><p>Alas the holes in the plot were too big to ignore. First of all, her dad tended to a curiosity shop in the Human Village. She has parents. What kind of dad leaves her daughter to be the apprentice of an evil vengeful spirit who destroys temples and conquers hell dimensions? </p><p>"Actually, what do I know. I wouldn't know anything about dads. Still, if he did let this happen… I'd want to give that guy a piece of my mind."</p><p>Also, Reimu didn't need to know all about magic to know it was completely different. If anyone taught her current magic to Marisa, it couldn't have been Mima. Mima was all darkness, summoning grotesque creatures and spirit mischief. Marisa did Love, Rainbow and Star magic.</p><p>"Love, Rainbow and Stars… Isn't that a little cliché? Now that I think about it, it does sound like the first things you would pick up if you wanted to drift away from a darker path and look like a good guy. And it would explain the exciting - I mean, dangerous - edge, that she - that her magic has, sometimes."</p><p>There was one last thing. Marisa's vague refusal to let Reimu see her house seemed like a major clue. It could either mean she has something to hide in there, or it could mean that Marisa really, really, <b>really</b> didn't like Reimu back.</p><p>"In both cases, unless she invites me soon, it means I'm screwed."</p><p>She didn't know how to sort out all of this new data. Ever since she got closer with the witch, Reimu had been too comfortable asking her for advice every time she was in a pinch and sharing all of her questions and theories with her. Now, she felt lost, because she couldn't ask Marisa for advice on whether or not she should tell her she recognized her. If Genji was still around, she would have told him everything. Her gramps could always reason with her when she was being difficult. That was the kind of advice she could really have used right now. Someone older, who's been through hell and back, who knows all kind of stuff about youkai and magic, and who knows Reimu like the back of their hand-</p><p>Something tugs at her sleeve, and as she immediately crouches in a stealth battle stance, she realizes it's a half-asleep Marisa, which doesn't lower her panic one bit.</p><p>"You're awake… Did you hear it too?"</p><p>Reimu takes a look around. She heard nothing. She was lost in her thoughts.</p><p>"I think I saw something," said Marisa, struggling to open her eyes.</p><p>"You dreamt it", said Reimu to reassure her, as she was scanning the room for a foreign presence. "Go back to sleep. No one's there."</p><p>Someone was clearly there. Like every night before for the past few weeks. But whatever it was, it couldn't get to Marisa without getting through Reimu. And that was not happening. </p><p>"'Kay then," she whispered, already going back to sleep.</p><p>Reimu stared back at the presence in front of her for a few minutes that felt like hours. It didn't feel threatening at all, and didn't seem like it wanted to attack. She grabbed the Hakkero and crawled towards it to see more clearly, but all that was left was a crack in the wall.</p><p>"Ugh, damn stalker spirit. If you watch us all the time like that, you could at least tell me what you learned about Marisa, make yourself useful."</p><p>No answer, and no aura whatsoever. Whatever visited her was gone again.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A loud thump woke Reimu up. She felt a warm, bright light on her face, something she had not woken up with for a long time. No way, was the sun finally making a comeback?</p><p>It's with a disappointed grunt that she opened her eyes to find that it was just coming from the Hakkero, seemingly at full power. Behind it, a Marisa covered in melting snow, flakes sticking in her hair, dirt on her knees and bramble stuck in her shirt, was holding her skirt straight towards the fire, trying to make it dry faster.</p><p>"Whatever happened, there's no way you did it without waking me up," Reimu sat up in awe.</p><p>"Hello there!" Marisa's head peaked from behind the fire. Reimu quickly ran her hands around her head, checking the state of her bed hair. "Yeah, I was surprised too, ya' were sleeping pretty soundly, I made a hell lot of noise and you didn't even budge. Well, I didn't make noise on purpose, right, so it's good that I didn't wake you up. Do you usually need a lot of sleep or what? I didn't know that about you."</p><p>"No, not usually, I'm just not sleeping well lately, you know, nightly demons."</p><p>"Oh my, did the purple spirit show up tonight?"</p><p>"You don't… remember? You woke up because you thought you heard her."</p><p>"Eeeh…Did I do that? I thought that was a nightmare. I talk in my sleep without realizing it sometimes. Sorry for your night o' sleep, princess! If I do that again, ignore me or knock me back out."</p><p>"What do you mean, again? - I mean - I obviously wouldn't do that."</p><p>Reimu couldn't help but think, if there's going to be an again, then she had plenty of time to tell Marisa the truth and could very well wait for another while. She fixed the sleeve of her robe which she just now realized had been sliding off her shoulder this whole time.</p><p>"What happened to you anyways? Why'd you go out?"</p><p>"We were snowed in when I woke up, I figured it meant the storm was over since the snow had settled. I went out to try to thaw it a bit so we could get out of the house. So I did. And behind the wall of snow, was, well."</p><p>Marisa gestured to the window where you could see a blur of white blizzard rapidly moving in the wind, then to her messed up clothes.</p><p>"Oh no. You should've woken me up, Marisa. This is my house. I have shovels and stuff."</p><p>"Well duh. A shovel wouldn't have made a big difference."</p><p>"Do you - uh - I can- I could lend you some dry clothes. Of mine."</p><p>"You really don't have to -"</p><p>Shit. She knew it. She knew it was going to sound creepy if she said it-</p><p>"Oh who am I kidding," Said Marisa between chattering teeth. "Yes please! And don't worry about returns, alright, you will get them back at some point."</p><p>"Didn't say anything about that, but okay."</p><p>Marisa answered with a big grin and mouthed a "thank you", then Reimu spent way too much time choosing what she was going to give her, because that wasn't anyone, she was giving <b>her clothes</b> to <b>Marisa</b> and for some reason, she felt like she could make a grave mistake with something this simple.</p><p>"I hope this is okay for you", she finally returned, proud of what she picked.</p><p>"A dry shirt's a dry shirt", stated Marisa, which Reimu thought was really undermining the effort she put into choosing what would fit her the best, but at least, she did not dislike it.</p><p>A round of Reimu's least favourite sleepover game, "Don't look at her while she changes", turned into "Don't stare at her with your clothes on", because it felt somehow just as mind-chatteringly obscene, if not more, of an image. It felt like <b>girlfriends</b>. Marisa was smaller than Reimu, but a bit more plump, so the clothes fit well. Marisa without a puffy skirt , layers of lace, and big round sleeves, that was uncanny. In a plain, long miko robe, she looked more serious. </p><p>"Oh, I didn't think it would fit me."</p><p>"It does… I mean, yeah, that's why I picked it."</p><p>"Huh. But don't get it twisted, this doesn't change what I said, you are still getting these back."</p><p>"Again, I did not imply you were going to steal them."</p><p>"Good. Because I'm not."</p><p>"Good?"</p><p>Is this going to be a thing? Reimu wondered. It was the first time she ever lended something to Marisa, but it wasn't like she ever-</p><p>Come to think of it, stealing artifacts, wasn't that one of the habits of the red-haired girl? She was always looking for treasure! When she was somewhere, either Mima sent her or she was looking for some rare bounty. But those were just everyday shrine maiden wear. Nothing that the witch would ever consider treasure. It wasn't even her style.</p><p>Well, from that angle, it would be pretty flattering to have them stolen by Marisa, now.</p><p>Over breakfast, the conversation circled back to the winter problem. Reimu had been pretty tired of talking about it, lately, but having spent some time being closer to Marisa gave her a new vigor, like a big spoon of confidence coming out of nowhere.</p><p>Apparently, for some reason (probably her own, very different reasons), Marisa was in the same mood, and welcomed the renewed interest for the incident with a big smile and brand new, bolder ideas.</p><p>"If we can't find the culprit in Gensokyo, why not look elsewhere?"</p><p>"The outside world, you mean? You can't go there. It's… More complicated than that."</p><p>"Then somewhere else. There are so many strange roads in Gensokyo. Do you know what's on the very top of the Youkai Mountain?"</p><p>"I'll admit, I have no clue."</p><p>"There are so many caves, and lakes you can't see the other side of. I know the cold is making it difficult but… We should go exploring! See if there's a Spring somewhere."</p><p>Way to die of hypothermia after a bad fall in the blizzard, Reimu thought, but the eventuality of going on a road trip with the witch got the better of her brains and she instead replied:</p><p>"Okay. Where do we start?"</p><p>"Where do the worst of the worst of the bad guys and powerful magicians live?"</p><p>"That would be Makai," said Reimu without thinking, but then, she saw Marisa's eyes widen a little. "But I'm not taking you down there."</p><p>What an irredeemable idiot! They went to Makai as kids. Marisa made so many enemies down there! And vengeful spirits were drawn to this place like flies on a honey jar! For the girl with the red hair, that was probably the single most dangerous, unforgiving, traumatizing-</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"Wha- What do you mean?"</p><p>"What's the problem with Makai?"</p><p>"It's very dangerous. We're not even sure there's something of interest there."</p><p>Reimu bounced her leg, trying to stop herself from getting this emotional, but it was too late. She hadn't thought this through, but she wasn't capable of backing out of this topic. The mental image of young Marisa in Makai was doing the talking for her.</p><p>"But that's the point of incident solving. T's what we do."</p><p>"It's… What <b>I </b>do. It's already dangerous for me to go to Makai. So, for you, it's - If something happened to you, I could never forgive myself."</p><p>"I've been down there before, you know."</p><p>"<b>I know, and you shouldn't have!</b>"</p><p> </p><p>Startled by the yelling, Marisa fell back against her chair. She took a big perplexed look at Reimu, but she barely looked surprised compared to the shrine maiden who looked mortified by what she had just done.</p><p>Reimu wanted to justify herself and do her little fake stuttering she had been doing on that day to hide genuine emotion, but nothing came out of her mouth. Marisa looked her in the eyes, then to her trembling hands, then to her mouth, then to her eyes again. She crossed her arms and smirked.</p><p>"How long have you known?"</p><p>Reimu's "Known what?" was shut down before it even exited her mouth by Marisa raising an eyebrow at her as if she was reading her thoughts.</p><p>"Literally just a day."</p><p>"So it was the hair thing? Damn it, I knew it was cocky to think I could get away with saying it."</p><p>A nod.</p><p>"So. You think I shouldn't have gone to Makai back then? S'not like I died."</p><p>"You were just a kid."</p><p>"So were you."</p><p>"It's different."</p><p>"How?"</p><p>"You were just a witch. I had... " Reimu vaguely pointed at the sky.</p><p>Marisa smiled, but not with her eyes. She suddenly looked as intimidating as the first time Reimu met her… again. </p><p>"I'm just a witch, huh."</p><p>"Please Marisa, you know what I mean."</p><p>No response.</p><p>"Why didn't you say anything, when I failed to recognize you? You lied to me."</p><p>"I saw a lot of very unpleasant possibilities. You could have banished me from Gensokyo. I could have had to answer for old crimes. You could have pretended to forgive me, but watch my every move waiting for the slightest slip-up. Or we could have fought to settle old scores. "</p><p>"Please, look at me, Marisa. Do you really think I would do any of that? I would never! I… I really like you. We spend time together."</p><p>"You liked me because you didn't recognize me."</p><p>"That was true at first, but-"</p><p>"See? So I made the right choice."</p><p>"No! Even if you told me right away, I wouldn't have banished you, or attacked you, or- Look, I used to do these things before, I was a stupid kid. But I changed. I didn't realize back then, that you were a kid, that you had your reasons. I'm sorry for what happened to you. I'm not that person now, I give everyone a chance."</p><p>This somehow wiped Marisa's smirk away from her face. Reimu gulped.</p><p>"So this is what it is. A "chance"."</p><p>Marisa sat up. Reimu could only cry a "No!" that meant both "It isn't" and "Don't go".</p><p>"'Would have been better if we fought. I expected many awful reactions… Contempt wasn't one."</p><p>With a firm step, Marisa went to snatch her still humid coat from where it was hanging and threw it on her shoulders. Reimu followed behind her.</p><p>"You can't fly out now! There's a blizzard!"</p><p>"I'll be fine. I'm not a tragic maiden in need of defending. I can fly in some snow."</p><p>She laced up her boots. She was talking calmly, not raising her voice at all. She sounded tired, and disappointed, which was more cutting for Reimu than outright anger.</p><p>"This isn't just some snow."</p><p>"Bloody hell, Reimu. You couldn't light a fire two months ago. Worry about yourself."</p><p>This cut the shrine maiden off for a second, and she stood still in disbelief while Marisa was gathering her stuff from the little pillow fort they were sleeping in together just a few hours ago. Once the witch was done, Reimu snapped out of her shock, grabbed her staff and continued following her to the front door.</p><p>"At least wait until there is some visibility. I could-"</p><p>"Reimu. I am going home. Go back inside and mind your business."</p><p>"I'm not letting you get lost out there. Please, I didn't mean to sound like that."</p><p>"Then prove it. Prove that you don't think you're above me, and that you trust me with something as simple as, damn it, as going home in bad weather! Then maybe, later, we can talk."</p><p>"But -"</p><p>"But I swear, Reimu, that if you don't let me go right now, I will have to show you by force that I am not a helpless little witch who needs a protector. And I won't hold back just because it's you."</p><p>They were reaching the gate, and with a chilling deja vu that sounded too much like a story ending where it started, Reimu squeezed her staff to her chest and felt like the dumbest person in the world. Marisa passed the gate, and only then, got on her broom. She gave a last look at Reimu, who did not dare cross the Torii.</p><p>"Thank you for letting me stay the night."</p><p>She kicked the ground and took off, and in the thick fog and mess of snow, in two seconds, she disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>Reimu stared into the grey void for a freezing minute."Do as you are told," she repeated to herself, "she said we will be friends again if you do what you are told."</p><p>As she turned her heels like a zombie to walk back to the shrine, a wave of cold wind snapped her out of her stupor as it shoved her to the ground. Another one swiped her feet as she was trying to get up, using her staff for support. She looked at her knuckles, all red from the fall, and bit her cheek.</p><p>She couldn't do what she was told. Marisa was flying alone in a blizzard so violent Reimu was having a hard time walking. That was terrifying. With all this snow, you couldn't even hear if somebody was screaming.</p><p>When she got back to her house, she didn't even stop to warm up her frostbit hands. She grabbed a big scarf, some winter boots, and was back outside in a pinch. A few months ago, she had wondered if the girl with the red hair was dead, and was eaten up by guilt and regret for it. Now that she could save the girl with the red hair, she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She liked the red haired girl, and she loved Marisa, so really, the stakes had never been higher. </p><p>She ran and flew faster than she knew she was capable of, following the direction Marisa took off and looking for any sign of her in the powdered ground. "I'm flying too fast", she thought as she almost hit a tree, but it wasn't because of the speed, as in her rush she had been teleporting without even realizing it. She was tired, and confused by the twists and turns of the Magic Forest. In the snow, all paths looked the same. She had tried screaming "Marisa! Marisa!" but the storm suffocated her words, and the witch hated her now, so she wasn't going to answer anyways. Exhausted, she landed on the ground and resigned to simply walk for a while. She was feeling numb all over and blurry in the head as well. </p><p>It was easier to navigate the forest on foot, because, to her surprise, there were wooden signs indicating some of the houses, and Marisa's was one of them. She had thought everyone who lived in the forest was some sort of recluse who wanted visitors to get lost, but that was another one of her preconceived ideas after all. After all of these occurrences of being tricked by her beliefs in such a short amount of times, Reimu finally just felt… young. Not dumb, actually, not mean either. She felt her age, not like the revered shrine maiden who solves incidents, she felt like a normal girl who's turning eighteen in a few weeks and wanted a friend her age to navigate this world full of immortal demons with.</p><p>She couldn't feel her feet, but they somehow took her lifeless body to a clearing with a house in the middle. She didn't need to read the signs to know it was unmistakably Marisa's. What now? She panicked, trying to shake herself out of her lifeless state. Let's look for clues, broom marks, footprints, anything that could indicate she made it home safe. If she didn't, Reimu would have to turn this whole forest upside down. If she could find the strength to do it… Come on, she had the strength to do it.</p><p>She had to blink to make sure it wasn't an inverted mirage when the door of the cottage opened and Marisa, covered by a big coat and a towel on her hair, appeared. "Alive. Of course." Was the only thing Reimu could think. She stepped forwards to see the girl who was looking straight in her eyes, to say something, something deep or something true, but the door was slammed before she could even take two steps, and she heard the sound of a heavy lock.</p><p>The training of self preservation and survival she got as a kid was the only thing that got her to fly back to her shrine instead of freezing to death in front of that horrible door.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Well, that was unexpected."</p><p>This morning, Marisa had woken up to find a couple of cherry petals in her forest meadow. So there was a spring somewhere! Following the trail through fairy circles and even the legendary village of Tono, she expected this mysterious spring to come from some extraordinary place. Something like Makai, perhaps even better, some kind of hidden heaven. She had not expected the trail to bring her all the way back to her very own Forest of Magic that she had just left two hours ago. Had the solution been so close to home all along, or was it just some sort of trap?</p><p>She did not immediately realize it, but as she was walking deeper through a path she had never tread before, there was less and less snow on the ground. It's only when she stepped in a puddle of mud that she stopped to look around. It still didn't look like spring per se, but some of the ice had melted, some bits of resilient grass sticking out of the now thin layer of white. The frozen trees were slowly dripping, and the forest was more noisy, as if more insects and other critters came alive in these parts. Drawn to this change of scenery, Marisa dropped her guard and followed the path straight ahead. </p><p>She found herself in a clearing bigger than the one she lived in and was immediately struck by a feeling she hadn't felt in weeks. <b>The warmth of the sun.</b></p><p>"So that's where Spring had been all along! The rascal livin' in that fancy house s'been keeping all the Spring to themselves!"</p><p>She knew her weird neighbors were up to no good, the labyrinthine Magic Forest is the home of those with things to hide, after all. Still, she didn't expect to see a house so clean and fancy. Whatever bougie devil was living in there, they were probably not only hiding spring, but valuable objects too. Marisa wasn't going to wait for a formal invitation to give them a piece of her mind!</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>Chunks of broken porcelain were sparkling on the ground like stained glass. Careful not to trip on the many scattered beady doll eyes, Marisa took a step to tower the other defeated magician, yielding on the floor, feet tangled in her own ribbons she was using to attack the witch minutes ago.</p><p>"It is not my doing you know…" said the other girl as Marisa was kicking her way through the mess to gather all of her cherry blossom petals.</p><p>"You have a lot of those… What are they, anyways?"</p><p>"I can not exactly tell what they're made of, but they seem to contain spring. The essence of spring, that is."</p><p>"That' why it's so nice around your house?"</p><p>"I have gathered as many as I could, but whoever made this happen has more. The amount that I have is far from enough to bring the whole season. Look at my window, my tulips are completely ruined. If I had stolen all spring for myself, I would have a nicer looking garden, don't you think?"</p><p>Marisa scratched her head. The other girl sat up into a more dignified position and attempted to untangle her feet from the ribbons. She was a platinum blonde with long lashes and a perfect little face contrasted by a sharp, practical short haircut and magician work clothes.</p><p>"Why did you come to bother me with that anyways? You seem to have gathered as many petals as I have. You can warm up a decent sized house with this, and I don't presume you're living in a castle."</p><p>"What? D'you mean I look poor to you? Anyways, I can't just let spring disappear like this, I need to find out what happened to it."</p><p>"Why? Do you work in a field of magic where the weather is important to you? Or… Do you happen to be Gensokyo's resident incident remover?"</p><p>"Ya got it, I'm just that. Well, I'm Gensokyo's second best resident incident remover."</p><p>As for who was number one, well.</p><p>Marisa hadn't talked to Reimu in a week, which after seeing each other so often felt like an eternity. Ever since their argument at the shrine, neither had come to the other's house to apologize. </p><p>It's not that she stood by what she said. Marisa was pretty much aware the whole ordeal was mainly her fault. Well, at least a solid sixty percent her fault. Maybe more. She knew she was doing something very wrong when she started getting engulfed into her lie, but it was what made it so exhilarating. It was funny to deceive someone at first, but it started becoming a problem when that someone became more than a someone, right?</p><p>She did not expect to become such good friends with Reimu when she "first" met her again. That was ridiculous, in retrospect. A girl her age, so interesting, with a personality so fiery and so many exciting stories to tell, she should have bet on friends. But hey, Marisa was bad at first impressions. Always trusting the shadiest people and butting heads with the ones she will end up liking. Not the love at first sight kind of gal.</p><p>If someone had to apologize for last week, it had to be her. Marisa knew that. But still, it would be nice if Reimu went first… Was that why she still hadn't come back to the shrine, because she was waiting for Reimu to go first? Or was it because they both hated heartfelt communication so much? God, she wished she could just come back with a joke and her feet on the table like nothing had ever happened, but there was no easy coming back from such a big blunder.</p><p>"Well in that case, I can tell you a little more", the beaten-up girl said. "But this is not the incident that will get you to number one. From what I can tell, it's unsolvable. But still…"</p><p>"Do share."</p><p>"When I found my first cherry blossoms, I wanted to analyze the petals with magic, but I did not want to waste the ones keeping me warm, so I looked for more of them and found a trail that went beyond the Forest. It was a very lush and distinctive trail, that is where I got so many of them, and it was going upwards. To me, it became extremely clear… The culprit behind this heist is in the Netherworld."</p><p>"Splendid," said Marisa grabbing her broom. Finally, a lead! All of her previous restraints felt petty to her now. Of course she was going to run to the shrine and apologize to Reimu. They absolutely needed to go there and kick ass together. The awakening of spring, how was that for an apology? And so what if Reimu was a little bit haughty? She was a god-chosen, overpowered, smart, well-mannered young woman after all. Marisa had a lot to prove to her. She couldn't sulk and be offended. She had to start now.</p><p> </p><p>"How d'you go there?"</p><p>"By dying. What do you think? This is where the dead live."</p><p>"Oh." She put her broom back against the wall, disappointed. "But there has to be a way. Else how did you see the trail?"</p><p>"Sure, there is a barrier, but it's guarded by spirits. And I would not cross it if I were you. It is by doing such things that humans in ghost stories become dead without even noticing it, you know. Especially the ones who think "If I die, I would notice it, so I won't die by just crossing some door.""</p><p>If I die, I would notice it, Marisa thought, I won't die by just crossing some doors. Still, she needed more information before diving in. She extended her hand to help the other girl up, who gladly took it. Marisa almost let her fall back down from surprise when she touched her pale fingers. This entire time, she thought she had been talking to a human, but the young lady's skin wasn't soft and fleshy. It was cold, slightly firm and smooth, almost like a hybrid between skin and… ceramic?</p><p>"You're… You're a… You're tall", Marisa stammered, taken by surprise a second time by the good seven inches the girl had on her. Maybe she should have let her sit on the ground after all.</p><p>The girl looked at her own hand, like she only now remembered what her skin was like, then smiled knowingly at the witch.</p><p>"Don't worry about it."</p><p>"Are you… Are you a youkai?"</p><p>"I am… Something like that? Well not exactly. Uh… Oh, I'm Alice."</p><p>"Of course! I'm Marisa."</p><p>"Have I… Seen you before? You look familiar."</p><p>Marisa was not about to ruin her life the same way twice, so she stared right into Alice's eyes, long and hard, to replace the memory of her. Whether they met before or not, she was not leaving this house with the question unanswered or with lingering lies. Alice didn't wait until Marisa remembered.</p><p>"Oh, right. You're Mima's kid, aren't you?"</p><p>How come when people remember Marisa it's never from one of the times she was good?</p><p>"That was so long ago. I can't believe I recognized you. We fought twice in Makai, do you-"</p><p>"Yes! I got it now! You were one of Shinki's… Uh, one of her creations?"</p><p>"… I was born in Makai, yes."</p><p>"Of course. Wow. Alice. What a surprise."</p><p>"You had different hair."</p><p>"I did."</p><p>"What happened to Mima anyways? How do you go from being an incident cause to an incident solver?"</p><p>It only took a glance between the two girls to mutually understand neither of them actually wanted to talk about their strange upbringing.</p><p>"Anyways. Blond hair suits you."</p><p>Marisa smiled in relief. </p><p>"Listen," said the magician, "I'm not trying to get in your way, but seriously, don't go to the Netherworld."</p><p>"Ya know the more you tell me this, the more I'm going to want to go, right?"</p><p>"I can't help that you feel that way, but this is not a place for the living. Someone will take care of this eventually. The world of the dead has its legislators. It's only a matter of time before the Yama gets wind of what's been happening and punishes the culprit."</p><p>"Is that so… You seem to know your stuff."</p><p>"That's because a thorough study will always yield better results than recklessly rushing in. I know! Why don't you stay for a little while? I could show you the experiments I made on these petals and you could tell me what you think, my theories are in a dire need of a fresh pair of eyes. If you could just help me clean up the mess before we-"</p><p>Marisa chuckled.</p><p>"You were trying to get me to clean up after our fight the whole time? That' why you were trying to scare me from leaving?"</p><p>"No, not at all, I was genuinely-"</p><p>"Reminds me of someone else I know. Y'all magicians don't understand how duels work, do you? It's the person who gets beat up who has to clean. Doesn't matter if the fight was in your library, how many books I burned, or how many times it already happened this week: you're wiped out, you wipe up-"</p><p>"This is strangely specific. Who is this magician-"</p><p>"You swoon, you sweep -"</p><p>"Enough, I get it."</p><p>"Shame, there's a lot more where that came from."</p><p>Alice raised an amused eyebrow.</p><p>"Okay, I'll give you one last one then. Impress me."</p><p>"…"</p><p>"…"</p><p>Marisa left out a dramatic sigh.</p><p>"Ya got me. That's all I have. I can't believe I got got by a stuck-up fancy dollie like you."</p><p>"You don't need to be familiar and insulting to win a duel of wits, you know?"</p><p>Alice's expression was completely neutral, but the corners of her mouth lifted a little as she was obviously suppressing a smug expression. Marisa was impressed by the kind of resolve it would take, not to laugh at your own jokes like that. It was almost like a teacher's pet attitude, very endearing.</p><p>"I won at magic, you won at making me look dumb. We're even, so I'll do half the cleaning."</p><p>"Hmpfh! I wasn't trying to get you to clean in the first place."</p><p>Alice was blushing very slightly, but there was no hiding it on her cold, smooth skin.</p><p>"I'll be honest with you. Don't you want to experience this spring a little longer? With the petals I gathered and the one you brought here, the forest is warmer and sunnier than it has been for months. We might not get to enjoy this until much later. Surely, you have time to get a cup of tea before you run out there and die at the gates of the Netherworld, right?"</p><p>What a convoluted way to ask someone to hang out, Marisa thought. That did it for her, though. She <b>did</b> miss the rays of light, sounds of birds, and the exhilarating joys of meeting new people. She found herself wishing she experienced it with Reimu, but there was plenty of time for that to happen, and she came to the bitter conclusion that she was happier to get her springtime with someone who understood her and didn't condescend. Cheerfully, she started rummaging through Alice's tea boxes, as the magician was pretending to be annoyed but hummed as she boiled the water anyways.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After the blizzard, Reimu was still a little more sensitive to the cold. When she saw a cherry blossom floating in the wind near the shrine, she had to muster all the energy and the courage she was capable of to follow it instead of staying tucked away. She wouldn't have batted an eyelash at any other weird incident. She was in a huge funk, really, and she had spent the past few days eating at dubious hours, sleeping, complaining to the gods and throwing crying fits. Whatever, she said, winter is a good season to mope. Whenever humans got their hearts broken, they would look for comfort in shrines. Where could a shrine maiden go to when she had her own heart broken? That's right, Reimu had every reason to be a slob. </p><p>This was different. This was a cherry blossom. It meant there was a spring somewhere, and as painful as it felt, that was a big enough incentive to leave the house. If it went well, it was going to be some old school incident resolving, and Reimu was itching to kick some youkai butt to feel like herself again.</p><p>Crossing the village of Tono was a nice distraction, as she had never been there before and animal youkai were fun to mess with, but she stopped right in her tracks when she realized the path then led to the Forest of Magic.</p><p>She hoped for a day without thinking about Marisa at all, and there she was, heading to the forest she had avoided for months because she wanted to get invited into it. What was going on? Maybe it meant Marisa had started investigating without her. Could she be in danger? </p><p>She fastened the buttons on her coat as the path she was treading grew sunnier and greener. The warmth was nice but she was not about to get surprised by the cold again. The trail of flowers eventually led to a large clearing surrounding a big fancy house. Any greedy fool easily distracted by shiny things would focus on this house and think it was suspicious, thought Reimu, but any shrine maiden with foolproof senses and steps guided by the gods will notice that the path continues behind the house, way into the sky.</p><p>Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a look inside. What kind of person had a house this pretty anyways? It looked like a doll house, blue tile roof and white wooden walls. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Reimu slowly made her way through the garden's bushes to peek into the back window.</p><p>Inside stood a tall and elegant blonde woman, someone Reimu had never seen before in Gensokyo. She was carrying a little pile of books and a cup of tea and bringing them to another figure at a working desk. Reimu stepped closer to the window to try to see that other girl, face hidden, hunched over some sort of microscope. She looked up. Reimu's mouth went completely dry.</p><p>What was Marisa doing here?</p><p>With difficulty, she swallowed. Her heart was pounding and she wanted to look away, but she was frozen in place behind that window, praying not to get caught. </p><p>Marisa and that strange woman were working on something, shaking flower petals in different vials, jotting down some notes on their respective notebooks. There was a familiarity to their every movement, not the kind of familiarity between friends, but maybe that of two people who work together perfectly. "The other girl is a magic user too", Reimu realized, and it hurt as much as it made sense. Of course Marisa would be more comfortable using her magic in front of another magician. </p><p>Why would it matter anyways? Looks like she has been solving the winter incident on her own, without telling Reimu. Who else could have brought some warmth back to these parts of the woods? Maybe if she hadn't coddled her so much, Marisa would have shared her discoveries with Reimu. No. Probably not. She's been lying about her identity the whole time, figures she was lying about the rest too. </p><p>She saw herself crying in her reflection, but didn't bother wiping her face. Her feet felt heavier than they had ever been, but one step after the other, she managed to turn away from the window and slowly crawl back from behind the bushes. She was tired of winter. She was going to follow that petal track and beat up her way into information. When she couldn't resist looking at the window one last time, she saw Marisa's big bright smile. It wasn't for her.</p><p>You can't trust a magician.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The first flower-viewing of the year had started for a few hours now. It felt so surreal that Reimu didn't even know how she felt. She was happy, relieved, taken by the spirit of spring; but at the same time, there was the disbelief. It felt like it could all be taken away. Like she was dreaming.</p><p>The shrine hadn't been that lively in so long. Actually, come to think of it, it had never been that lively. Now that she was older, it was easier to meet new people during incidents. The youkai she had defeated just… showed up. She didn't expect it, but she didn't hate it either. Sakuya's cooking was good. Remilia knew her way around booze and clever conversation. The Prismriver Sisters' music was unlike anything she heard at a feast before.</p><p>She had almost stopped to compulsively look for Marisa in the crowd when she overheard the windy sound of a broom stopped to a halt by the shrine's gate. So she had the audacity to show up after all.</p><p>After defeating Yuyuko, and learning that the Magic Forest had nothing to do with the winter incident, Reimu had been running every possible explanation for what she saw in that clearing, and why Marisa was investigating without her. One after the other, the explanations had started sounding like excuses. Anything to justify wanting to see Marisa again.</p><p>Without even noticing it, she had ditched the people she was drinking with to walk towards the gate, walking slowly at first but more and more determined like her feet had a will of their own. She took control of her body back right before it went for a hug once she was face to face with Marisa. Instead, she timidly waved her hand, and to her surprise, the usually bold and confident witch did the exact same movement.</p><p>"Oi, Reimu. Congratulations. I knew you could do it."</p><p>"Thanks." One syllable was all Reimu could mutter, because she felt like she was going to explode. Her heart was beating so fast and the adrenaline was making her feel sick.</p><p>"Listen- I- … I came to say this. I'm sorry about last time. I shouldn't have stormed off like that."</p><p>What? Now that she heard this, Reimu felt bad. It was her who lacked tact, right? She's the one who should apologize.</p><p>"You... You did piss me off. But I overreacted. Ya didn't deserve what I said, y'know? Certainly didn't deserve to be left in the cold… I'm sorry."</p><p>It's okay, Reimu thought, it was my fault, it was a sensitive topic, it's as good as forgiven, but before she could muster the courage to say it out loud, she was distracted by the sight of someone, leaning on a tree a few steps behind Marisa, looking at them.</p><p>Marisa noticed that Reimu was staring, and happy to get out of the emotion-baring conversation, she said:</p><p>"Oh, um, she's with me, that's Alice. Alice Margatroid."</p><p>"I know," Reimu lied, "I saw you two in the Forest."</p><p>"Aw, you were in the Forest? Why didn't ya knock and say hi?"</p><p>"You looked busy, and I was on my way to the Netherworld."</p><p>"Hey, don't hesitate next time, okay? Alice didn't even think humans could get to the Netherworld, it would've been fun to prove her wrong."</p><p>"Wait, she's not a human?"</p><p>"Nah, she's a magician. Like Patchouli, remember?"</p><p>"So, she's a youkai…"</p><p>Reimu bit her cheek. She didn't like Marisa hanging out with mysterious youkai.</p><p>"I invited her to come along to the flower viewing, but since she's a youkai I told her she might not be allowed in the shrine. 'S okay with you? She totally understands if it's not."</p><p>Reimu sighed. She really wanted to have the witch to herself and talk for a bit, but the shrine was full of youkai already, so she didn't really have a choice.</p><p>"Sure-"</p><p>Marisa smiled widely before Reimu even finished her sentence and stuck her thumb up at Alice who nodded and walked towards the girls. </p><p>God she was tall up close, and not even wearing any heels. Reimu felt herself instinctively straightening her back and tensing her neck to try to compensate. She was not going to be intimidated by a tall youkai trying to corrupt her friend.</p><p>"I'm the incident-resolving shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei. Next time you have information and concerns about an incident, please report them to me." Reimu extended her arm for a firm handshake.</p><p>"I'll try to remember that", Alice simply said. </p><p>Her face was hard to read and hard to get used to. She wasn't smiling at all, but not frowning either, and her big eyes managed to be shiny and lifeless at the same time, like a marble or a snowglobe. Reimu turned to Marisa because Alice made her uncomfortable, to find Marisa trying not to laugh, like from an inside joke with herself. Wait. Had she met Alice before? No way. That wouldn't happen twice. </p><p>"C'mon, let's go meet everyone," said Marisa, and as she said this, she grabbed Alice's hand.</p><p>
  <b>What.</b>
</p><p>That was the last straw. Now Reimu wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible to go hide in a corner of her house and cry. Someone else could entertain the guests. </p><p>"I hope you're hungry, the Scarlet Mansion people are here and they brought enough to feed an army."</p><p>That was a pathetic attempt to go for a private joke with Marisa. There was no way Alice knew who the Scarlet sisters were, right? Anything to make her feel excluded. Marisa answered:</p><p>"With this crew, that's kinda concerning. How d'you know it's not human meat?"</p><p>"You're right, I guess you <b>do</b> always have to be careful when it comes to youkai."</p><p>Alice didn't bat an eyelid, but Marisa frowned.</p><p>"And what do you mean by that?"</p><p>"I mean you're a human who hangs out with youkai, so you need to be careful if you don't want to be eaten."</p><p>Marisa opened her mouth to say something, sighed, and stopped walking.</p><p>"Then I guess I'm gonna go hang out with some youkai over there, and if they try to eat me you can run in to save me like the hero that you are."</p><p>She grabbed Alice by the arm and left towards the party, waving at Sakuya and Remilia.</p><p>Good, Reimu thought. This is exactly what she wanted. She wanted to get out of this situation, right? Well, she did. So everyone was happy now.</p><p> </p><p>Reimu went to crawl down in a spot hidden by the shade of the shrine's roof. It was where she kept the extra sake so it doesn't sit in the sun. She grabbed some and was about to go for it straight from the bottle when she felt a light breeze, like a door opening and closing behind her. Reimu didn't turn to look as the sound of footsteps in high heels approached. </p><p>"It won't take you that much longer to put it in a cup and you will feel better drinking it properly."</p><p>"Mind your own business. Who invited you anyways?"</p><p>Yukari ignored that comment and pointed to the spot next to Reimu.</p><p>"May I?" She sat down without waiting for an answer.</p><p>"You're annoying me as usual. Why don't you go enjoy the feast with the others?"</p><p>"I could ask you the same question."</p><p>Reimu slouched her shoulders and took a swig of sake. To her surprise, the good mannered youkai gently grabbed the bottle and did the same, then put it down where Reimu couldn't reach it.</p><p>"I saw that Marisa showed up after all, so I wondered if you were okay."</p><p>Reimu sighed. She regretted telling Yukari about her fight with Marisa. They had only met, what, ten days ago? There was no reason to trust her like that. But Yukari was older, and, more importantly, she seemed to know a lot about Reimu. She knew the history of the shrine, she might have met Reimu's parents, and she knew more about Reimu's powers than Reimu herself. Yes, she had been stalking the girls for a while now… But she seemed to have her reasons. Reimu didn't know how much yet, but Yukari was definitely someone important, and the young shrine maiden <b>desperately </b>needed a guiding figure. Yukari was there, that time Marisa stayed the night, nagging Reimu from the dark when she saw how fiercely she was protecting the witch, so the old hag put two and two together anyways. No need to lie to her.</p><p>"Have you two been able to talk?"</p><p>"No, she brought someone with her so we haven't been alone."</p><p>"Huh." Yukari glanced at the party and tried to single out Marisa from the crowd. "Her girlfriend?"</p><p>Reimu winced at the word. She hadn't thought it or said it. It sounded unacceptable.</p><p>"A <b>youkai</b>," she said, with as much disgust as she could possibly put in the word.</p><p>Yukari started laughing. Reimu stepped on her foot.</p><p>"Shut up! They'll hear you and see that I'm here."</p><p>Yukari let out a last soft chuckle and just smiled. She handed the bottle back to Reimu, who didn't take it. She started rambling instead.</p><p>"What do youkai and spirits and devils and all the like want from her anyways? Can't she be left alone for five minutes?"</p><p>"She doesn't look like she wants to be left alone."</p><p>"But she's putting herself in danger. There's a reason humans are supposed to stick together, you know? She doesn't realize any of them could attack at any moment."</p><p>"You know you're saying this to a youkai, right?"</p><p>"Have you ever seen me around you without my orbs and my staff?"</p><p>"Hah. Like that would save you if I ever got serious." Yukari took back the bottle for herself and drank a little. "You know, a lot of humans form real relationships with youkai."</p><p>"They're fools, then."</p><p>"They aren't fools. They understand the risks. They are willing to take that risk because what they get from it is worth it to them. For some, it's profit. For some, it's love. For your friend, I think it might simply be the adventure. She always said she wanted to solve incidents with you, right? I think she understands the dangers you would face."</p><p>"But I can't not be worried. If you love someone you'd never want them to get hurt. It's useless to talk about this with you, I bet you never worry about anyone else but yourself."</p><p>"Love? Is that so? If you really think about it, deep down, when you worry about someone, doesn't it mean you think you're better than them?"</p><p>Reimu widened her eyes. She hadn't thought about it like that.</p><p>"... So, that being said, you can probably guess that I worry about a lot of people."</p><p>Reimu tried to pinch Yukari for going for such a cheap punchline, but she found herself grasping at thin air as the woman was already gone through one of her gaps, leaving Reimu alone with her thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>After introducing Alice to Patchouli then attempting to make the two stop talking, tasting every single dish made by Sakuya, making Chen crazy by letting her play with Alice's animated dolls and dancing in each other's arms to a Prismriver song; a few hours had passed and Marisa pulled Alice aside so they could lie in the late afternoon sun together and look at the flowers. They found a little patch of grass away from the crowd and brought two glasses of wine.</p><p>They had been talking about spring and magic for a while when Marisa paused and decided to bring up the fight.</p><p>"Hey, have you… Seen Reimu at all, this afternoon?"</p><p>"No, I can't say I have. She wasn't there at all?"</p><p>"Hmph. I don't know. S'not like I looked."</p><p>Alice sat up to tower Marisa, who was lying on the ground, crossed arms behind her head, and pouting like a child.</p><p>"I wasn't offended by her comments about youkai, you know," said Alice. "She's a shrine maiden. It's normal that she needs some time to adjust to us."</p><p>"Can't you see this is not about youkai? There are tons of them roaming around her shrine, and she doesn't mind those." Marisa sat up too and tried to look a little more serious. "She's okay with youkai, she just thinks I'm too weak to hang out with them. This is what her comments at the gate were all about."</p><p>"I see. Well, it just sounds like she's worried about you, then. Is that so bad?"</p><p>"Of course it is! When someone's worried about you, it means they think they're better than you, y'know?"</p><p>"Hmm. I don't think that's entirely true. It is natural for people to help each other out."</p><p>"If it was just that, she wouldn't act so haughty 'bout it. You saw it."</p><p>Alice pressed her fingers to her mouth, thinking.</p><p>"Have you considered she might have been jealous?"</p><p>"Jealous? Of what?"</p><p>Alice pointed at herself.</p><p>"Whaaat. No way. If Reimu liked me before, she had plenty of time to make a move. Trust me."</p><p>And that was the truth, right? Actually, Marisa hadn't considered this in a long time. It felt a little conceited to assume Reimu liked her just because she acted weird.</p><p>"Either way," Alice said, running her fingers through Marisa's bangs, "I think you should go talk to her, at a calmer time, when there's no ongoing banquet. You pretend to be annoyed, but I can see she's important to you."</p><p>"What? I don't care at all. She got her chance to apologize, why would I bother?"</p><p>"You talk about her everyday."</p><p>"Well the conversation just comes up!"</p><p>Alice raised an eyebrow. </p><p>"Fine. Whatever. Why aren't you pissed off about this too? She sort of insulted you."</p><p>"Oh. Reimu is not a threat to me."</p><p>She covered Marisa's face from prying glances with her cape and kissed her lips.</p><p>"Let's go home. We've lingered uninvited at her party long enough."</p><p>Flying home, Marisa thought that Alice worrying about Reimu's feelings before her own definitely meant she thought she was better than Reimu, so really, her theory still stood strong.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A few days later, as Alice was over at Marisa's cottage and it was her turn to wash the dishes, she noticed a distant figure by the kitchen window. </p><p>"You've got a visitor", she informed Marisa, who stood up from her armchair in the sun-bathed study room.</p><p>Reimu was standing like an idiot in the middle of the alleway, watching the cottage from the woods and hesitating whether or not to step inside the clearing.</p><p>"She'll knock if she wants to see me," said the witch. Unbothered, Alice kept on washing plates. She rinsed one, set it aside, rinsed another, and before she had time to set that one aside, Marisa sighed and opened her window.</p><p>"Hey", she announced loudly, "Come on in. Don't stay in the shade like that, you'll catch a cold."</p><p>She walked to the door and opened it right as Reimu got in front of it.</p><p>"Hi."</p><p>"Hi."</p><p>Reimu swallowed. On the stoop, Marisa looked taller than her, and she didn't know if it was appropriate to close the difference by stepping up. </p><p>Alice appeared in the doorframe behind Marisa.</p><p>"I'm sorry", said Reimu, "I'll come back another day-"</p><p>"Alice," Marisa said, not looking away from the shrine maiden, "'You mind leaving a little earlier?"</p><p>Alice took off her apron.</p><p>"I'm done with the dishes", she simply said, and she walked down the stairs and past the shrine maiden. "9 o' clock tonight?"</p><p>"Sounds great. See you later babe."</p><p>Reimu stared in disbelief as Alice took a little path and disappeared into the woods.</p><p>"I'm really sorry- You didn't have to-"</p><p>"S'fine. She lives 20 minutes away."</p><p>Reimu couldn't understand Marisa's expression. She must have been making a great effort to hide her feelings, because she was usually so easy to read. After staring at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time, Marisa closed her eyes and sighed.</p><p>"Come in."</p><p>Reimu took a deep breath and stepped inside. Marisa's house was bigger than she expected. It looked comfortable. It was also filled to the brim with junk. Reimu knew the witch was a hoarder, but she had never seen anything quite like this. Piles of artifacts, books in strange languages, weapons and potions were standing together in an equilibrium that looked magical in itself. Everything had a tag, a stamp or a color-coded rope which seemed to indicate there was some sort of logic to this chaotic arrangement. Reimu wanted to investigate every little detail of every room, but she told herself to focus. That was not what she came for-</p><p>"Wow, you still have this?"</p><p>Even though she was trying not to snoop, Reimu's eyes stopped on an off white steel missile. The paint on it had cracked, but you could still see a faded smile, two cute eyes and a red nose adorning the head.</p><p>"Mimi-chan? Sure."</p><p>"She still works?"</p><p>"She never worked in the first place, so it's not like I got a reason to throw her away", Marisa simply explained, much to Reimu's perplexity.</p><p>She led Reimu to her study room, because that was where the best chairs were. While Marisa went to fetch something to drink, she took one last nosy look around the room.</p><p>"I thought you'd have thrown away your dark magic stuff," said Reimu when Marisa came back with coffee because it was too early for beer.</p><p>"Why would I've done that?" She sat down.</p><p>"Well, because you don't use it anymore, right? You do fire and light magic."</p><p>"Systems of magic don't exist in a vacuum," Marisa simply said. She took a long sip of her coffee. Silence fell on the two girls. </p><p>"I'm sorry. I don't know much about magic."</p><p>It was her first time admitting it out loud, now that she thought about it. Marisa didn't say anything, looking at Reimu like she was in a deep reflection about the girl. Her eyes were attentive. Reimu knew that was an invitation to go on.</p><p>"When humans get mixed up with magic, it's often against their will, so I assumed it had been the same for you. I thought you needed to be guided like the humans of the village. But… You have all this knowledge, all these books. You know other magicians who can help you when it gets hard. I… think I worried for the wrong reasons."</p><p>"Duh. You worried for nothing."</p><p>"It wasn't for nothing!"</p><p>Reimu tried to go back to a calmer voice.</p><p>"I was wrong to behave like this, but I'm not sorry for worrying. I can't help worrying for you, because-"</p><p>Because I love you.</p><p>"Because you're so caring. Ugh! Fine. It's natural for a shrine maiden to be like that with everyone."</p><p>"Y- Yep. That's exactly it. I'm like that with everyone. No exception."</p><p>"Guess I'm just not used to hanging out with the good guys, but I can appreciate that."</p><p>Reimu was happy that Marisa was back to banter. Their friendship was probably ruined, but at least there wasn't as much hatred as she imagined. She didn't know if she could have lived with that.</p><p>"My turn. I'm sorry for lying. That was fucked up, even for me. None of that would have happened if I'd been real when we met."</p><p>"I mean, I'm the one who didn't recognize you. If anything, it was a lie by omission."</p><p>Reimu blew on her hot coffee, frowning, before adding.</p><p>"And you were right to be careful. I don't know what I would have done if I recognized you right away. Even though I'm capable of reason… I'm just as afraid of Mima as everyone else."</p><p>Fuck it, she was going to say it. She had gone too far to worry about tact anyways.</p><p>"Is she… dead?"</p><p>Marisa choked on her coffee.</p><p>"What? No!"</p><p>"Then… You ran away? Is she looking for you now?"</p><p>Marisa nodded in bewilderment for a while. She didn't realize that Reimu's train of thought about her had gone this far.</p><p>"It was nothing like that. I just didn't want to work with her anymore."</p><p>"And you could just… leave?"</p><p>"Sure? I mean, she still visits me on my birthday, of course. And I call her on Mother's day, that's kind of a joke between us but now she gets sad if I forget-"</p><p>"Huh." Reimu threw herself back into her chair, completely shaken by this reveal. To her surprise, her look of confusion was met by a soft smile from Marisa.</p><p>"See? This is what happens when you let your imagination go too far 'stead of asking."</p><p>Marisa's understanding voice was soothing, and Reimu was satisfied with the answer, not tempted to push more, until she realized.</p><p>"Wait. You call her? That means you know where she is."</p><p>Without letting her smile falter, Marisa put her cup down on the table. With a much more formal tone than usual, she answered.</p><p>"Sorry, I cannot share this information with you."</p><p>"But she's an evil spirit. If she's let to roam free, people could get really hurt."</p><p>"Since I'm the one who knows her whereabouts, it's my responsibility to take action if I think she's dangerous. Can you trust me with that?"</p><p>Will you tell me about it? That was Reimu's first thought. But looking into Marisa's eyes, gleaming with intelligence, courage and mischief, she knew. It will be fine.</p><p>"Yes." She said.</p><p>Marisa let out a sigh of relief and seemed to suddenly relax, when Reimu hadn't noticed she was tense in the first place. Reimu realized she was being tested. No problem, she was glad she passed. Now they could at least be cordial. She felt her heart tightening at the thought. Cordial. Just cordial. Good acquaintances.</p><p>"Well", she said, putting her spoon back in the empty cup. She got up. "I should leave now. I interrupted you earlier by showing up uninvited."</p><p>She suddenly felt like crying. At least, when they had a fight, they had something. Enemies is more of a relationship than acquaintances. She didn't want to come back to the shrine like that. She knew she had to. She turned around to stop herself from lingering, then Marisa grabbed her sleeve. She froze.</p><p>"When I heard the culprit was in the Netherworld, I wanted to tell you right away. Alice said the barrier was impossible to cross, but with ya', I thought that we could do it. You found out about it short after, I didn't get the chance to tell you."</p><p>Reimu didn't know where Marisa was going with this. She was still holding her sleeve.</p><p>"Just thought you should know that."</p><p>"… Because I work with borders?"</p><p>Reimu turned to face Marisa. Marisa suddenly let go of her arm.</p><p>"Oh shit- Hey, I did not say this to make you cry. Fuck. Sorry."</p><p>"You're so amazing, Marisa," Reimu said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "You know your powers and the limits of them, you have all these books and you know all kinds of magicians. I don't know anything about being a shrine maiden and I don't even know any other shrine maiden than me. I have more powers than anyone I know and I don't even know how they work or how to use them."</p><p>"Hey," Marisa grinned, even though she knew it was not an appropriate time to be flattered, "It's okay, it's not a race. You'll figure it out."</p><p>"You could have solved the winter incident without me."</p><p>"That's not true. And even if it was, I didn't want to."</p><p>"Why?" She whined. "I've never done anything for you."</p><p>Marisa got up. She crossed the working table they were sitting at to go stand next to the other girl.</p><p>"You were my first friend, Reimu."</p><p>Reimu stopped sniffing.</p><p>"You're the first friend I ever had, ever. You may have forgotten me, but I didn't forget that."</p><p>She seemed to hesitate for a second, giving Reimu some time to wipe her nose on her sleeve, then pulled the girl into a hug. Reimu hugged back almost immediately, burying her head in Marisa's mess of curls.</p><p>"Can we be friends again?" she said, her voice slightly muffled in Marisa's shoulder.</p><p>"I would love that", said the girl with the blond hair.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me on tumblr @avlvla !</p></blockquote></div></div>
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